MICRO-MASS

Winner of the 2024 call for projects.

The MICRO-MASS project aims to push the limits of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) its application in chemical imaging for cell biology, particularly in cryogenic conditions, and in correlation with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization coupled to Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer imaging and electron microscopy (10 nm spatial resolution).

We thus hope to obtain improvements in the localization and quantification of biomolecules associated with metabolism (sugars and lipids, in particular) on samples approaching their native state. This chemical "visualization" of life at high spatial resolution addresses a critical challenge required to better interpret metabolomics data and to improve our understanding of the compartmentalized metabolism of cells to significantly improve the production of bioresources such as lipids for biofuels.

To achieve this, the project entails technological and methodological advancements:

• To establish a robust process for data acquisition, particularly for the frozen-hydrated samples (surface preparation, cryo-transfer, and investigating acquisition parameters) and correlate these data with those obtained with (cryo-)electron microscopy.
• Interpret the mass spectra, especially by the synergistic use of MALDI-FT-ICR and ToF-SIMS, to evaluate the limits of the technique in terms of qualitative and quantitative detection of different molecules (lipids, carbohydrates).

These developments will be carried out initially on two major research subjects for the characterization of highly valuable biomasses:

• The deciphering of lipid metabolism in plant cells and algae.
•  The understanding of metabolic exchanges in symbiotic cell-cell partnerships.

This project brings together a consortium of experts, including physicists specialized in ToF-SIMS and electron microscopy, analytical chemists specialized in the interpretation of MALDI-FTICR and MS/MS spectra, and biologists already using SIMS techniques.

This expertise developed in correlative Cryo-ToF-SIMS will be unique in France, and will open up prospects for collaborations with industrial or academic partners in the field of subcellular chemical imaging for a better understanding of valuable biomass.
 

Project lifetime:
 

2024 - 2028

Scientific manager:
 

David Touboul (CNRS)